Mother devastated after son in wheelchair left to the side in class photo delighted by retaken picture – photos

ANNE Belanger was upset by her son’s school class photo. The picture showed her seven-year-old son Miles with his Grade 2 classmates at Herbert Spencer Elementary in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada. But he was apart from them, ostracised from the group in his wheelchair. She wanted the picture retaken. She said:

“I couldn’t comprehend how the photographer could look through the lens and think that this was good composition . . . this just boggled the mind,” she said. In the photo, the class is arranged in three rows, with the teacher standing on the left… This was not a malicious act, I don’t think it was done on purpose. I just don’t think there was any rational thinking behind it.”

You can see Miles beaming and trying to lean into the picture.

Miles Apart:

The school and those other parents agreed to a pose for a new photo. Says Mrs Belanger:

“It’s gorgeous. It’s a really nice shot… For him, to fit in, this is what it should be.”

Miles has spinal muscular atrophy, a genetic disease that causes his muscles to weaken. In the photo below, he’s just one of the gang.